Devante was starved for over 5 months, because his owners didn’t want him anymore.
We know that Devante was once working as an excursion horse for a hotel in the north of Tenerife, bringing joy to a lot of people. But after his time there, we have information that he was starved for over 5 months by his previous owners. They stopped feeding him altogether for 3 days before he came to us. One of his eyes had sunken in, we discovered he is blind on that eye. Our local contact informed us about Devante and we happily welcomed him in our sanctuary.
When he came to us Devante really struggled to gain weight. It was a bit of a mystery why. He also didn’t track up properly. One of his back legs swung around in a circular motion. We didn’t know if this was a neurological issue or if it was caused by a lack of muscles and fat because of his months of starvation. To find out, he really needed to put on weight. We sent him to the vet, where he was treated with an IV drip for a few days. Luckily, when he came back Devante started to gain weight.
One of our volunteers took a lot of time to train him to walk properly, purely on whistles and clicks instead of body motion because of his partial blindness. Devante is very intelligent and understood his training quickly.
His sunken eye hasn’t caused any problems so far. But we monitor it closely. If it starts causing issues and infections it may need to be removed. Devante is a bit older, so he has some extra needs. It’s still difficult for him to keep a proper weight. Older horses are more susceptible to skin fungus, so his coat takes a little more maintenance. We treat it with natural products.
He is doing really well at the moment, going on long walks regularly with volunteers. But just because of his age we keep an extra eye on his joints and immune system.
Devante is very determined, but not in a way that he causes trouble. He steals everybody’s heart and the volunteers love to work with him.
Donations made towards Devante help us with his general care, the natural skin products and meeting his dietary needs to keep his weight up. Right now he is in good health, but in the future he may need to receive extra vet care for any ailments that arise because of old age.
If you would like to sponsor Devante monthly, you will get first hand updates about his rehabilitation, vet visits, treatment plans and progress. Every penny donated goes straight to his rehabilitation. You’ll receive your own personalised login details for our Sponsor page on the website to see the updates.
